"Max Verstappen bottle that's going unnoticed": Fans react to the Red Bull driver messing up his final qualifying lap in the F1 Belgian GP

Max Verstappen will start the Belgian Grand Prix from P4 after the driver was unable to recreate his performance from the Sprint qualifying earlier in the weekend. Fans online reacted to this somewhat disappointing showing from the Dutchman, who made an error coming out of turn 1 on his final push lap.

Max Verstappen managed to split the McLarens in Sprint qualifying to start second for the 15-lap race on Saturday. He also pulled off a brilliant lap one move on Oscar Piastri to take the lead and eventually win the race.

Coming into qualifying for the main race, the 4x world champion was expected to be in and around the McLarens again. Verstappen was third by the end of qualifying, only to be pipped by Charles Leclerc right at the end by just 0.003 seconds.

The Red Bull driver had made a mistake on the exit of turn 1, which cost him enough time to lose P3. Fans on X have reacted to this mistake and the overall qualifying performance by Verstappen.

"Max Verstappen bottle that's going unnoticed😭😂," stated one fan. "Verstappen outqualified by Leclerc in a slower car🤣🤣 What happened to him outperforming his car🤔," said another user. "Out qualified by a Ferrari 😂. He bottled," said another X user.

Here are some more reactions:

"He’s still on for a podium if it’s dry. If it’s wet all bets are off. He could take it," said one fan. "You could see that was coming, stupid stupid car aero," said another user. "A rare mistake from Max costed him the P3. But still P4 is not bad. If he crosses Charles in the 1st lap then he can wait for a mistake from the two @McLarenF1 drivers," said another fan.

While Verstappen will be disappointed to start Sunday's race from P4, the other side of the Red Bull garage will be much happier. Yuki Tsunoda ended the session in P7, which is his best qualifying performance since joining the Austrian team.

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Max Verstappen's reaction after turn 1 mistake during final qualifying lap at the Belgian GP

Max Verstappen during Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen highlighted the lack of grip in his tires at the start of the lap after making a mistake on his final Q3 run during qualifying for the Belgian GP. The driver also speculated that he lost around two-tenths of a second in just that corner alone.

Reacting to the error he made in turn 1, Verstappen quickly came over the team radio and said:

"Oh my god! That was really, really bad.. Just no grip starting the lap."

After Verstappen completed his lap, his race engineer for the weekend, Simon Rennie, came over the team radio to inform him that Leclerc had pipped him by 0.003 seconds. The 27-year-old replied by saying:

"I mean, I lost 2 tenths in sector 1, so that's not a surprise."

McLaren locked out the front row in qualifying yet again, with Lando Norris taking pole position ahead of Oscar Piastri in P2. As previously mentioned, Charles Leclerc managed to get his Ferrari into P3, beating Verstappen by just three-thousandths of a second.

Edited by Rupesh